Pastor David Ibiyeomie, founder of Salvation Ministries in Port Harcourt, has condemned internet fraud and told members involved in the practice to leave his church.
Speaking during a sermon, Ibiyeomie said some people involved in internet fraud, commonly known as “Yahoo Yahoo” in Nigeria, attend church services despite profiting from money taken from others.
“Do you know that there are Yahoo boys inside the church? They have no conscience. They Yahoo somebody and they are very happy in church,” he said.
The pastor described internet fraud as theft, irrespective of how it is presented.
“No matter how you put it, Yahoo is stealing. I don’t care how you paint it. Whatever you take that belongs to somebody else, that is not your own, is stealing. Yahoo is stealing,” he said.
Ibiyeomie recounted the case of a university professor and electrical engineer who he said lost all his savings to fraudsters and later died.
“Every money he saved as a professor, all his savings, was taken,” he said.
He urged congregants to distance themselves from anyone involved in internet fraud, warning of the consequences.
“In case you are following such a person, separate from him now,” he said, adding that any person involved in “Yahoo” worshipping in his church should “go to another church and give your offering.”
“Because you are killing people. People have died because of Yahoo,” he added.
Internet fraud has become a major concern for Nigerian authorities in recent years, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission reporting thousands of arrests and convictions annually.